“Not pressing any buttons, just seeing what happens
Lot of bing-ing going on, Basement coming.
Back in the lift now.
Bing!?
Hit the Basement and the 5th Floor, going between the two.
Feel more like a member of staff, different perception.
More relaxed in the lift, less of a rush.
Going up to the 5th floor again.
Shopping as art, kind of an art form, looking for materials through shopping.
Flashes of light through the windows as we go from floor to floor.?
Starting to feel suspicious now.
Bing. Bing”

The Leaning Post has gradually evolved over several months. It’s one of the outcomes of Immersion, a research project funded by the Arts Council. It has a particular function and is also specifically aesthetic. The padded seat is covered with black imitation leather fabric [1] duplicating in colour and texture the wide strips of elastic webbing which support our body weight as we lean into it. It sits quietly until activated by a body, with brightly coloured sides and vertical strips of black webbing.

It began as an idea stemming from later versions of Tap Ruffle and Shave in Manchester and Newcastle [2], when objects like the rocker and the celestial chamber started to appear – structures to lie on or crawl inside, a total physical involvement. Or maybe it came from my collaborator Jens Johnson, who suggested a coffee bar environment where visitors are forced to lean and stretch in unusual positions through the outlandish angles of their seating, with small tables attached where they can rest their cups. This remains an interesting idea, placing café culture within an art context – the coffee sipping stretching sprawling installation within an art museum.

This was always a prototype, trial and error, knocking things up in the studio [3]. First stage was making drawings; second stage was constructing maquettes; third stage was deciding to actually build one; fourth stage was sourcing the wide elasticised webbing in John Lewis [4] and buying a whole roll of it 4 inches wide, the widest available. Fifth stage was building the ‘leaning’ framework and stretching the elastic across it. Trial and error here, not tight enough at first, causing the body weight to lean back too far into the timber framework behind. After re-stretching considerably tighter, using as much grip and stretching power as I could muster, the body weight was well held, but the timber frame began to noticeably bow, against the pressure of the elastic. To rectify this the design had to be modified with the addition of a second length of 2-inch by 2-inch timber bolted against the length of the stretched frame. This created sufficient straightening as to be visually acceptable; the bowing wasn’t obvious any longer. It also added strength, given the users’ body weight.

The crucial stage came in designing the platform, the place where the user stands.

Trial and error led to the idea of including it, so that this step for our feet actually throws us back into the elastic. We have no choice. We are forced to lean, to be. It worked. It was comfortable and a physical involvement with the object that was neither sitting or lying down, couch or bed-like. We're leaning. We're aware of our body weight. We could be sipping tea alongside another body. Is this an art experience? [5]

With the conviction that the idea worked and could be built, there was now an extensive stage of modification which lasted several months, while other projects and deadlines took precedence. I used some spare MDF [6] to create the ‘lean’ and decided, that it should be dismantlable, for transportation and convenience. It should virtually pack flat. The one issue about the prototype that disappointed me was that a significant amount of the body weight was forced onto the feet. A way around this was to create some kind of ledge for the bottom to rest on, taking a proportion of the weight and probably creating a more restful state. I was troubled by this and wanted to experiment. But the existing ‘lean’ was already constructed and was successful enough. Maybe I could combine the two ideas in one structure, back to back. The MDF for the sides was already cut, and within these confines I decided to give it a go [7]. I began to construct a second ‘lean’, with a padded ledge, behind the first. This is where the black fabric (see footnote 1) came in.

There was compromise in this construction, caused by the space limitations of the MDF sides, and when it was finally completed the angle of this second ‘lean’ was too steep. The person leaning was thrown slightly forward. It wasn’t possible to modify this angle for lack of space at the top. But this was a prototype after all. It would make sense to test it out and get feedback on its function and aesthetics. Too steep or not was beside the point until it was tried and tested. Jens Johannsen tried it out and threw himself forward into it, rather than leaning back. I hadn’t thought of this. Would other people go for the forward hinge? Or was this typical of his bodily fluidity as an exponent of Body Mind Centring?

I became aware of an overlap with my role at AIT Ltd. [8] and thought about taking it into the office for testing, getting it out of the art context altogether. The Leaning Post could have a de-stressing function in the workplace.

This decision forced completion of the prototype and brought it up to a level of finish that I hadn’t originally planned for. Setting a date to install it created that familiar pressure of a deadline. I repainted it, tidied up the elastic, dismantled it and reassembled it as a test of the procedure that was to come. I marked how the pieces fit together.

I transported and installed it on January 18th 2000. I expect it to stay in the Holdsworth Building for three or four months. On the day it appeared I sent out a company-wide e-mail explaining its presence and purpose, inviting people to have a lean and let me know how they found it. Their feedback, and mine about it being there, has so far been favourable. People are surprised I actually built this object myself [9]. They like the workmanship, its fetishistic qualities and its function. They try it out. They are surprised it can take their weight. They are amused by it. I like it there, in its corporate surroundings. It doesn’t look out of place.